The Patsy Cline Calendar - July

• On July 1, 1955, Patsy made her debut on the Ralston-Purina segment of the Grand Ole Opry, hosted by Ernest Tubb. He gave her a warm Opry welcome, introducing her as "Coral record's newest star". Her performance of "A church, a courtroom and then goodbye" did not elicit the kind of response Hank Williams received for his Opry debut, which won him six encores for "Lovesick blues".

• On July 20, 1955, Patsy's first single, "A church, a courtroom and then goodbye" / "Honky tonk merry go round", was released on the Coral label (Coral 61414), as well as her first EP, "Songs by Patsy Cline" (Coral EC-81159), which contains "Honky tonk merry go round", "A church...", "Turn the cards slowly" and "Hidin' out", i.e. all four songs from her first session on June 1, 1955.

• Chronically short of money, Patsy signs a one year renewal contract with Bill McCall in exchange for an advance in pay on July 2, 1956. Patsy got a $200 advance.

• On July 8, 1956, the single "I've loved and lost again" / "Stop, look and listen" (Decca 29963) was released. This was her third single, and the first on the Decca label.

• July 1956, at invitation of host Faron Young, Patsy taped six songs for two 15-minute military recruitment programs for the Navy, called "Country Hoedown". The format was long enough for three or four songs, a couple of commercials and some canned dialogue, and Patsy's choices revealed her own likes: "Turn the card slowly", "Come on in" and "Stop, look and listen", on which she playfully goosed Young's band.

• Georg Hamilton IV joined the "T & CJ" cast during the summer of '56. He would return to D.C. to work the "Town & Country Jamboree" and tour clubs with Dean, Patsy and the Texas Wildcats. He explained: "The first time I can remember hearing anybody singing "Life's Railway to Heaven" on stage it was her (Patsy). It was my granddaddy's favorite song. I hadn't heard anyone sing that song in a long time and I heard her singing it on the "Town & Country Jamboree". I was really impressed by that and I was talking to her a little about country gospel music."

• On July 26, 1957, following a ten-day package tour with Ray Price, Ferlin Husky, Faron Young, Hank Thompson and Jonny Cash, Patsy appeared on Alan Freed's short-lived TV show, "The Big Beat," which aired on ABC.

• July 1957, Patsy and Charlie visited the Wilburn Brothers who were playing near Berryville on the Shenandoah River at Watermelon Park, where up to 4,000 people brought one or more watermelons while listening to bluegrass music. Patsy, invited, sang "Walkin' after midnight" and later the group returned to Winchester to feast on some of Patsy's excellent baked ham and mashed potatoes.

• Patsy met Brenda Lee on a tour through the Southwest during the summer of 1957. It was the only time the two of them ever worked a show together, but it was a formative experience for Brenda, who was only twelve years old. Patsy probably saw a lot of herself in Brenda.

• On July 14, 1958, Patsy, pregnant and wearing a flowered sun dress, rides in the Elkton Jubilee Parade before a crowd of 12,000.

• On July 20, 1959, Decca released the single "Gotta lot of rhythm in my soul" / "I'm blue again" (Decca 30929).

• July 1959, Patsy visited Arthur Godfrey at his Leesburg farm.

• Patsy was in Carlifornia in July 1960 when she had a near miscarriage. After a two-day hospital stay, she was back in the club that night. "I have to stay in bed all day, lay down while in the car and between shows, or the doctor says I'll be back in there and they won't be able to save it the next time, so I'm really listening to him", she wrote home. She had a premonition she might lose the baby.

• On July 17, 1961, Patsy was released from the hospital, where she had been since the car accident on June 14. She went home in a wheelchair, which she needed for the first few weeks she was at home. She was scheduled for plastic surgery for three month later. That week she made her first Opry appearance since return to the living. She still couldn't sing, but she was wheeled onstage in her wheelchair to a standing ovation. Patsy promised (her voice deep with emotion) her fans she'd be back soon to sing them her hit song. Patsy's first dates, working with Leon McAuliff, were scheduled for Tulsa and Enid, Oklahoma, on July 29 and 30. Randy Hughes told bookers that they could not work her for over six days at a stretch.

• On July 29, 1961, Patsy performed at the Cimarron Ballroom in Tulsa, Ok. This was her first performance since the car accident. This performance will be released on CD by MCA on July 29, 1997.

• On July 16, 1962, the single "So wrong" / "You're stronger than me" (Decca 31406) was released.

• During the summer of 1962, Kathy Hughes helped Patsy find her "dream house". She'd fantasized about her perfect house ever since her hit record would allow her to entertain such thoughts, and discussed it with the Hugheses. When she found her brand new dream house, she intended to make it a bastion of hospitality. When the decorating was complete, she went from room to room with her camera, snapping pictures, holding the view finder on the diagonal to take in the panorama.

• On July 6, 1965, the single "South of the border" / "San Antonio Rose" (Decca 25673) was released.

• On July 18, 1966, Decca release the single "You were only foolin'" / "Lonely street" (Decca 25699).

• On July 24, 1967, the single "Hidin' out" / "Have you ever been lonely" (Decca 25718) was released.

• The first ever Camden/Benton country music festival, July 4-6, 1996, was dedicated to the memory of Patsy Cline, Randy Hughes, Cowboy Copas and Hawkshaw Hawkins, who lost their lives in a plane crash in Camden on March 5, 1963.